Saturday, January 27, 2001

KIDDERMINSTER Harriers boss Jan Molby was delighted with the way his side fought back from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw in Saturday's Nationwide League Division Three clash against crisis club Hull City at Aggborough.

"I doubt whether anyone in this division this season would produce a performance like that," he said after Harriers had grabbed a point with goals from strikers John Durnin and Drewe Broughton.

Financially-crippled Hull, who are facing a race against time to stave off a winding up order, had gone 2-0 ahead inside the opening 14 minutes through David Brown and Kevin Francis.

Harriers, however, stormed back in fine style and pounded the Tigers defence to such an extent in the last 15 minutes of the first half that they were unlucky not to have been ahead by the interval.

Molby, whose side have not won since Boxing Day, said: "It was incredible that we had to come in at 2-2 at half time, but if we keep presenting the opposition with goals then it's going to be difficult. But the football we played in the first half was sensational.

"Obviously, half time is what saved Hull. If it had gone on for a few more minutes I'm sure we would have scored another goal, but it was always going to be difficult to keep up that pace in the second half."

Hull, without a goal in their previous five games, stunned Harriers in the fourth minute when Lee Philpott's cross took a deflection and 'keeper Stuart Brock could only parry the ball into the path of Brown who netted with a close-range header.

Worse was to follow for Kidderminster when a lack of understanding between Brock and Ian Clarkson led to Francis firing the ball into an empty net from 18 yards.

The two-goal blast sparked a dramatic fightback by Harriers who were unlucky in the 26th minute when a downward header by Durnin bounced up and struck the bar.

Their efforts were rewarded in the 34th minute when a Neil Mackenzie shot was deflected to leading scorer Durnin who notched his eighth goal of the season.

Then, on the stroke of half time, Kidderminster deservedly equalised when a through ball by Scott Stamps was well controlled by recent loan signing Broughton who marked his home debut by scoring his second goal in successive games.

In the second half Harriers were unable to get their noses in front, but were unlucky when Broughton had a header expertly pushed away by 'keeper Paul Musselwhite and Dean Bennett saw his fierce shot clip the top of the bar.

Molby said: "We got the two goals which was no more than what we deserved. You wouldn't have thought the way we played that we haven't won in 2001 because the confidence is still there and the players want to play and work hard. It bodes well for the future.

"If we play like we did in the first half and for 25 minutes in our previous match at Mansfield then there's very few teams in this league who will be able to live with us. Obviously we have got to find consistency and iron out some of the mistakes we are making."

Commenting on Hull's two goals, Molby said: "The first was a deflection that Brock just got a hand on and the second he and Clarkson got themselves into a mess with no communication. We could have stopped both of them, but credit to the boys. They had to dig in and they kept playing the football."

Molby was also happy with the way his recent captures, Broughton, Daire Doyle and Mackenzie played, saying: "They have real footballing brains which is very important. We are slowly getting there. I don't know what this season is going to bring us but we are building and we are putting together a strong squad hopefully to do some real business next season."

Hull boss Brian Little said: "We just had a bad 15 minutes where we lost it completely and credit to them because they certainly deserved to score in that period."